Mechanism for recording or registering the maximum movement of any mechanism.



'No. 706,l46. Patented Aug. 5, I902. L. B. ATKINSON.

MECHANISM FOR RECORDING 0R REGISTERING THE MAXIMUM MOVEMENT OF ANY MECHANISM.

(Application filed May 12, 1902.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheeta-Sheet I.

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L. B. ATKINSON.

' MECHANISM FOR RECORDING 0R BEGISTERQNG THE MAXIMUM MOVEMENT OF ANY MECHANISM.

(Application fiXed May 12, 1902.)

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(No Model.)

Fl G .10 .fA mV/Z/T? many, @Mmm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LLEWELYN BIROIIALL ATKINSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MECHANISM FOR RECORDING 0R REGISTERING THE MAXIMUM MOVEMENT OF ANY MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 706,146, dated .gugw lggg Application filed May 12,1902. Serial No. 106,959. (No model.)

T0 aZZwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LLEWELYN BIROHALL ATKINSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at UpperrTooting, London, S. W., England, have invented an Improvement in Mechanism for Recording or Registering the Maximum Movement of Any Mechanism, (for which I have made application for Letters Patent in Great Britain under No. 11,235, dated May 31, 1901,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanism for recording or registering the maximum movement of any mechanism, and has for its object the provision of cheap and simple recording mechanism capable of being so damped in its motion that momentary movements due to swinging or jerking of the mechanism the movement of which is to be recorded do not affect the recording mechanism.

My invention consists in the use of a detached hinged or rolling element normally standing in a position of equilibrium under the action of gravity,- the said element being carried by another element movable through an angle under the control of the mechanism the movements of which are to be recorded and carrying in such angular movement the hinged or rolling element until at a determined point the latter is no longer in equilibrium and falls or rolls over into a second position of equilibrium, from which it cannot return unless reset, thus recording whether the limit of motion prescribed has been attained or not. The damping effect is produced by inclosing the recording element in glycerin, oil, or other liquid, so that momentary movements of the apparatus do not allow the recording elements to reach the second or non-returnableposition of equilibrium.

There are many ways of carrying this invention into effect; but I shall describe two types of the device, one with a hinged element and another with a rolling element, each of which will be generic of its own kind, and in order that the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood I will describe it in relation to the accompanying drawings.

Figures 1, 2, and 3 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operation of the invention with hinged parts. Figs. 4- and. 5 are views showing the operation with rollingmem hers. Figs. 6 and 7 are similar views of modified forms. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the invention as embodied in an electric meter. Figs. 9 and 10 show the application of my invention to two other electrical devices.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a hinged mechanism a a, being an oscillating axle rocked on its axis by the arm 6. Z) Z) is a cradle having a bar I) I), lying behind the vertical plane containing a a. c is a bar hinged at cl to the axis. In Fig. 1 the mechanism is in the first position of equilibrium. In Fig. 2 the arm 6 has moved to a new position e and c has been carried over the vertical position by the cradle Z) 1) until the hinged arm 0 has fallen to the second position of equilibrium.

Figs. 4 and 5 show arolling mechanism. a

is a pivot. 19 is a glass tube. 0 is asteel or other ball. 0 is the arm moving the mechanism. In Fig. 4 the ball is in the first position of equilibrium at one end of the tube. In Fig. 5, the arm having moved to a new position e,the ball has rolled and lies at the other end of the tube at c in the second position of equilibrium. In these cases there is a single recording element actuated when the mechanism has moved through a certain definite angle; but where it is desired to record the movement, great or small, a series of elements, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, are provided, each being set at a different angular position of equilibrium, so that they are detached one after the other as the movement proceeds. WVhen a cradle and plurality of arms are employed, as shown in Fig. 3, the cradle must be stepped, as shown at 1) W, in order that all the arms may not be overbalanced at once.

In the case of the rolling mechanism in place of a number of separate elements, as described and shown in Fig. 6, this may be done by placing a series of balls in one tube of a curved form, as in Fig. 7, when at successive an gular'positions successive balls pass the vertical plane and are detached, and the number found in the second position of equilibrium is a measure of the maximum angular displacement of the apparatus.

Where, as in the case of electric demandindicators, the movement to be recorded is one lasting for some timesay ten or fifteen.

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minutes-and Where temporary oscillations are not to be recorded, the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 3 is wholly contained in a glass tube through which the axis passes, the tube being filled with a viscous liquid. The tube in Figs. 4, 5 6, and 7 may similarly be filled with a viscous liquid, such as oil, glycerin, or the like.

Fig. 8 shows the recording mechanism attached to the arm of an electrolytical meter, in which the operation is such that the arm 9 is arranged to be kept horizontal by the alternate charges and discharges of a meter. Two tubes b b are provided in this case, and each contains one ball 0. One ball will be released from its position of equilibrium if the arm g rises too high. The other ball will be released it the arm g falls too low, and thus a record is obtained of the occurrence of any extreme movements of the arm 9 in either direction.

Fig. 9 shows a diagram of a similar type of mechanism for recording whether the load on an electric motor or other circuit has exceeded the stipulated or desirable amount. h is an electromagnet. i is the armature, held off by the spring and screw 7c and the end of the arm g, being pivoted at on the frame or base of the instrument. I) is the tube, containing one ball 0, which falls over when the slope of the arm g, corresponding to a movement produced by the predetermined cur rent, is sufficient.

Fig. 10 shows an electric demand-indicator for indicating the maximum current in a circuit. Zis a coil carrying a current. on isa core to be drawn into the coil and carried on an arm pivoted at a. n is a light frame carrying a bent tube b. The upper part, curved as described, carries a series of balls 0, and as the core is drawn into the coil the balls one at a time reach a position where they fall over, and the number lying in the lower tube is a measure of the maximum movement. Where it is desired that the record should be slow, the tube may be filled with oil or glycerin, or the balls may be an exceedingly close fit in the tube. The halls need not drop and rest superposed on one another, as shown, but may be delivered into any shaped receptacles, arranged so that they can be readily counted.

I am aware that indicating apparatus of certain kinds, such as bell-indicators or the like, have been made in which the indicator passes from one position of equilibrium to another, but not as a part of the mechanism moving with and recording a defined angular movement of the part of the mechanism the movement of which it is desired to measure. I am also aware of apparatus in which by the movement thereof a liquid is caused to overflow from a receptacle to form a liquid index, indicating the amount of such motion.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a recording device the combination with the moving part, the movement of which is to be recorded, ofamovable part cooperating therewith and normally held by gravity in a position of equilibrium relative to the moving part, said movable part moving to a second position of equilibrium when a certain angular movement of the part to be measured has taken. place, substantially as de scribed.

2. In a recording device, the combination with the moving part, the movement of which is to be recorded, of a channeled movable part cooperating therewith and a rolling element carried by said channel and adapted to pass from one position of equilibrium to another when a given angular movement of the channeled part has taken place, substantially as described 3. In a recording mechanism in combination an electromagnet, an armature, a pivoted arm carrying said armature, a curved tube or channel carried by said arm and a rolling element in said tube or channel substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

LLEWELIN BIROIIALL ATKINSON.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. MACLEAN, Gnonon E. Inorrr. 

